


Partners

by enthusiasmgirl



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2015-06-16
Packaged: 2018-04-04 17:51:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4147176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enthusiasmgirl/pseuds/enthusiasmgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes when Matt or Foggy refer to each other as partners, people misunderstand. However, very rarely do they let it actually bother them. They know what they mean, and that's all that matters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Phone Conversations

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short mini-fill based on the following prompt at the Daredevil Kink Meme:
> 
> Have you ever instinctively ended a phone call with something like, "love you, bye" when you're not actually dating that person?
> 
> Come on. You can't tell me these dorks wouldn't do it!
> 
> The original prompt can be found here: http://daredevilkink.dreamwidth.org/1742.html?thread=3845326#cmt3845326
> 
> It's preserved her for posterity's sake and because it makes me giggle. Enjoy. :)

Foggy loved his family. And he got that his mother really wanted them to spend Christmas as a family at his cousin Cheryl's this year. After all, she did just have triplets, and Cheryl had always made the journey to New York City dutifully for every other holiday. But really? Wisconsin? It was so far removed from Hell's Kitchen that Foggy felt like he must have inadvertently stepped through a wormhole to an alien planet instead. 

He felt like he might die of boredom. He genuinely worried that his last moments on Earth might be spent in a farmhouse dining room wearing a red and green knitted sweater with reindeer on it and a paper crown on his head. Listening to his Uncle John tell the story of the one time he tipped a cow with friends for the sixth time. That week. And getting slowly way too drunk for a family gathering.

So, when his cell phone rang he answered it immediately, overjoyed to hear the voice on the other end of the line. "Awwww, hey you! I miss you so much! What are you doing right now, tell me everything!" he said, excitedly, getting up from the table and leaving the room to be polite.

His family thought that it was a bit rude, but there were so many people crowded around the table and everyone was having such a good time that they didn't let it bother them.

"What? That's crazy. I can't believe you did that!" they heard as he left.

Ten minutes later, they caught another snippet. "No, you hang up! No, you! I'm serious!"

Twenty minutes later, when they had all moved on to dessert and Foggy's plate had been cleared away in his absence, they caught still more of the conversation. "That's amazing. You're amazing."

Finally, Foggy walked back into the dining room and took his seat at the table, finishing the conversation up. "Well, listen I really do have to go but I'll see you next week, alright? I love you too. Bye."

Foggy looked down and realized that there was a piece of pie at his place at the table that wasn't there before. And a cold coffee. "Oops. Sorry, everyone," he said.

"It's okay sweetie," said his grandmother. "We just didn't know you had a girlfriend. She must miss you a lot."

Foggy looked surprised and shook his head. "No, nan, I don't have a girlfriend. That was my partner."

"Oh," the woman said, shock in her voice. "Well that's nice... when did that happen?"

"Huh?" Foggy asked.

"Nobody told us you swung that way, kiddo!" his Uncle John said jovially. "Good for you!"

"What?" Foggy asked, realizing that everyone at the table was looking at him and that he may have just accidentally come out of a closet that he was never in. "No! I'm not... That was my law partner! At the law firm. Where I work. Nelson and Murdock. That was the Murdock part of that, calling me."

Some people at the table looked confused, while others giggled and laughed to defuse the tension. But Foggy's mom was looking at him with an amused twinkle in her eye. "Mom?" Foggy said. "Help me out here. That was Matt! You know Matt!"

"Of course, sweetheart," was all his mother said. "Whatever you say."

As Foggy took a big bite of pie, he felt as though everyone at the table was in on some big joke that he just wasn't getting.


	2. Birthday Wishes

Foggy stormed into the office, shaking the rain off of his umbrella as he collapsed it and spitefully pleased that the weather seemed to reflect his mood.

"Good morning!" said Karen jovially as he tried to get to his office without anyone making a fuss over him. He didn't succeed. She blocked his way with a smile and a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Soooo..." she said, "happy birthday! I got you an extra special birthday donut to start the day!" She showed him a box of donuts that featured one vanilla frosted donut with multicoloured sprinkles and an unlit candle poking out of the top. 

"Seriously?" said Foggy. "You're really going to do this? You know I'm turning 30 right? That's three decades on this planet. Ugh. It's all downhill from here, Karen, I'm telling you." He ignored the box and pushed aside to enter his office, slamming the door behind him.

Karen threw her hands up in the air, not willing to push the issue, as Matt came out of his own office carrying an envelope in his hand. "Grumpy, isn't he?" Matt asked Karen.

"Yeah, it's weird seeing him like this," Karen said. "I expected him to be more enthusiastic. He always struck me as a birthday person, you know? Someone who would make a big deal out of it and want everyone to pay attention to him."

"You know it's funny, but he really isn't," Matt said. "Unless it's my birthday. He makes a big deal out of my birthday. Decorations, baked goods, the whole nine yards."

"Awwww..." said Karen. "That's sweet. Now I'm picturing you in a pointy party hat."

"Oh, it's happened," Matt said with a smile. "But I think he's letting his age get to his head this year."

"I'm not scared of thirty," said Karen. "It's just a number."

"I'm looking forward to it, actually," said Matt. "With age comes wisdom, right?"

"Exactly," said Karen.

"Here," Matt said, taking the box of donuts from Karen. "Let's try again. I think I can cheer him up."

He knocked on Foggy's door, and got a pained groan followed by a "Fine," as a response.

Inside the office Foggy was sitting with his head on his desk, clearly miserable.

"Five minutes," Matt said. "That's all the time we want to take to celebrate the day, I promise you. Karen's really excited about the donut she picked out and I got you a card. That's it. Can we do that?"

"I don't know," said Foggy into his desk calendar, "Can we also go to Josie's later and get epic-level drunk in a way that even the Gods themselves will sing stories about in years to come?"

Karen nodded enthusiastically, and Matt sighed but agreed. Finally, Foggy lifted his head to look at them, taking Karen's donut and taking a bite.

"Thank you, Karen," he said. "Now you, Murdock." He made a gimme motion with his hand. "Hit me with my annual reminder that I'm inching closer to middle age by the minute."

Matt went to hand over the envelope, but pulled back at the last moment. "I just want you to know before I give this to you that I worked very hard to pick this out," he said. "You know I'm not good at this. I consulted with one of the store clerks very carefully to pick out the one I wanted."

"What he's trying to say, Karen," Foggy explained, yanking the envelope from Matt's hand, "is that he's historically been very bad at this, and that we shouldn't make fun."

"I have not been that bad at it," Matt said.

"No," said Foggy, "Of course not. I really appreciated the golfing themed card that you gave me on our 40th wedding anniversary, also known as my 29th birthday. It was really sweet and I will cherish it forever."

Karen and Foggy both tried not to laugh as Matt huffed and crossed him arms. "Just open it," he said. "I think you will be pleasantly surprised."

Foggy opened the card, and was thankful that Matt couldn't see the look that Karen gave him at how it looked. "You are my soul mate, my partner, and my trusted friend," he read. "I can't imagine how my life would be without you. On your birthday, I want to remind you of how much I love you. And you signed it too."

"Not bad, right?" Matt asked.

Foggy grinned. "Dude, I'm your soul mate?" he asked.

"It was the only one I could find that expressed how I felt," Matt said. "The rest were all funny or sarcastic or too impersonal. This one seemed appropriate. The store clerk seemed to think it was perfect too."

"Did you tell her what kind of partner you were looking for a card for exactly?" Foggy asked, amused.

Matt faltered. "I... I think so. Yes. She understood what I was looking for."

"Oh, man. I love it," Foggy said. "Really. Thanks, Matt."

Matt turned and left the office, and couldn't help but overhear Karen finally let out a giggle she could no longer hold in and whisper to Foggy. "The hearts and kissing bears are really cute," she said as Foggy shushed her quickly.

He laughed to himself and tried in vain to remember exactly what he had told that clerk so that next year he could get it right. But he took comfort in the fact that he'd definitely cheered Foggy up.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a Tumblr. Come find me at http://enthusiasmgirl.tumblr.com.


End file.
